Clinton's Future

Following primaries in Indiana and North Carolina, and Obama's 200 delegate lead, BBC news speculated that Clinton's race was inevitably going to come to an end, more than likely before the next primary, arguing that mathematically she could not win. However, as the West Virginia Primaries loom around the next corner, Clinton is projected to hold a 43 point advantage over Obama. What does this mean for the election? Financially, Clinton's campaign is going down hill, and even though publicly, Clinton seems very set on remaining in the race, it will be interesting see whether her finances allow this. Having already lent about 11 million to her campaign, and making a plea toward supporters to help keep things afloat, without gaining some significant wins, it seems as if she may have to throw in the towel. This is not the first time that speculators have suggested that it may be the end for Clinton, which is why I am hesitant to believe the talk. But it will most definitely be interesting to watch these upcoming weeks, to see if she is able to make a comeback. I personally don't think that it's over yet. 

May 6th Primaries

Senator Obama seems to have put a halt to and momentum that Senator Clinton started to get going tonight. With her narrow victory in Indiana after she had been ahead in the polls by 5 or 6% going into the primary, she did not close the gap in North Carolina where Obama had an undisputed victory over Clinton raising his delegate lead over Clinton. Obama's speech was one which emphasize his patriotism and the American Dream. He seemed to speak with the super delegates in mind, as well. While Clinton claims to be remaining in the race at least until West Virginia, one commentator noted that this is not the end for the Clinton era for politics, but the beginning of the end. So the question remains, how much longer can she last?

Barack Renounces Wright

When the Rev. Wright controversy first emerged, Obama did not try to deny his relationship with the man who presided at his wedding and baptized his two daughters. But who knew that Wright could have such a deleterious effect on the campaign. Since then, it seems that Obama has hit roadblock after roadblock, walking down a path that seems to attract bad luck. Following the PA loss, it seems that he is losing steam, and the chart below highlights this exactly. It is unfortunate that one man could potentially be the catalyst to what seemed to be such a strong campaign, such a strong movement.

Obama has lost the momentum his campaign once had, and this Tuesday he tried to throw off some dead weight by adamantly separating himself from Reverend Wright. His comments have changed drastically from his previous stance, where he blamed the newsmedia for the way they portrayed Wright. Now, according to a recent New York Times article, Obama claims he "read the trancripts" and watched the broadcast. Now, he is “outraged by the comments that were made and saddened over the spectacle that we saw ” He added: “I find these comments appalling. It contradicts everything that I’m about and who I am.”

It interesting how, after all this time, only now he is realizing how against Reverend Wright he is. A find it to be a way-too-late attempt to repair the guilt-by-association negativity that he has been unable to escape. Can one man really have such a profound effect on Obama's campaign? Are people unable to tell the difference between the two? Or does this just feed into the perception that Obama is anti-American?

Nevertheless, time will tell whether his recent change of heart towards Wright will have come too late.